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August 5, 2009
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Liverpool's Xabi Alonso is poised to sign for Real Madrid on
Wednesday after the clubs agreed a fee believed to be £30m for the
Spain international.
GettyImages
Alonso: Real saga coming to an end
The end of a summer-long saga over the 28 year-old's future
ended when Liverpool issued a short statement effectively bringing
to a close his spell on Merseyside.
The statement read: "Liverpool Football Club this evening
confirmed they had reached agreement for the sale of Xabi Alonso to
Real Madrid, subject only to a medical. The terms of the deal will
remain confidential and undisclosed.''
But although Liverpool will not reveal the details of the deal,
privately sources were maintaining that manager Rafael Benitez had
got his own way over the fee.
It is believed that Madrid made another attempt to end the
deadlock with an offer of £30m that will rise to £34m depending on
Alonso's success over the first two years of what is believed to be
a five-year contract.
Alonso had trained with his Liverpool colleagues on Tuesday
afternoon at the club's Melwood complex.
But as the Liverpool party headed for John Lennon airport and a
charter flight to Norway for Wednesday's friendly with Lyn Oslo,
Alonso was heading back to Spain.
Real Madrid issued a statement of their own, confirming he will
have a medical on Wednesday.
Assuming all goes well, he will join his former Liverpool
team-mates Alvaro Arbeloa - who moved to Real last week for £3.5m -
and goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek at the Bernabeu.
Alonso and Dudek were part of the famous night in Istanbul when
Liverpool lifted the European Cup after a penalty shoot-out victory
over AC Milan.
Now only Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher remain at the club
from the 18 players on the team sheet in Istanbul that night.
Alonso's departure has been a long and painful experience for
Liverpool fans, who had taken the Basque midfielder to their
hearts.
Benitez tried to sell him last summer in the complexities of his
unsuccessful fight to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.
Alonso did not want to go then, and has always felt that he was
being forced out of the club to finance the Barry deal.
This summer it was Benitez who did not want to lose the player,
who is believed to have told his manager on the final day of last
season that he wanted to return to Spain.
From that point on, Madrid waged a persistent war to sign the
player as they assembled a new squad under president Florentino
Perez.
With the Alonso deal, Perez will have spent around £220m in two
months on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Raul Albiol, Esteban Granero,
Arbeloa, Alvaro Negredo and Karim Benzema.
That haul is Madrid's response to Barcelona's historic treble of
Champions League, La Liga and Spanish Cup.
But although Perez did not consider Alonso to be a player who
'will sell shirts', the Spain international has been almost as
difficult to prise away from his club as Ronaldo.
Meanwhile, Michel Salgado has ended his spell at Real Madrid
after 10 years with the Primera Division club.
The 33-year-old defender, who moved to the Bernabeu from Celta
Vigo in 1999, has been released by mutual consent despite having
one year remaining on his current deal.
"Real Madrid would like to thank the until-now captain for his
commitment and behaviour during 10 consecutive years of exemplary
service to the club,'' said a statement on the club's official
website.
Salgado enjoyed a great deal of success during his decade with
Real, winning four La Liga and two Champions League titles among
other trophies.
